National Action arrests: Police get more time to quiz soldiers suspected of far-right terrorism offences

The men, including a 22-year-old from Birmingham, are all serving members of the British Army and were arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences on Tuesday.

Detectives have now been granted an extra five days to interrogate the group, which also includes a 32-year-old from Powys, a 24-year-old from Ipswich and a 24-year-old from Northampton.

All four are being held at a police station in the West Midlands.

Ordinarily suspects must be released or charged after 24 hours, unless they are suspected of a serious crime in which case a maximum of 96 more hours detention time can be granted.

However because they were arrested under the Terrorism Act, the soldiers could be held without charge for up to 14 days

West Midlands Police said the men "were detained on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000. They were also arrested on suspicion of being a member of a proscribed organisation (National Action) contrary to Section 11 of the Terrorism Act."

The arrests were "pre-planned and intelligence-led" and were carried out with West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit in conjunction with the Welsh Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit and the East Midlands Counter Terrorism Intelligence Unit. Police stressed there was no threat to public safety.

All searches in relation to the arrests have now finished.

National Action was established in 2013 and became first extreme right-wing group to be banned under terrorism laws in December 2016.

An entry for National Action in the official list of proscribed groups says it is a "racist neo-Nazi group" that was established in 2013 and has branches across the UK which "conduct provocative street demonstrations and stunts aimed at intimidating local communities".

The document adds that the group is "virulently racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic" and links the group's online propaganda with the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox last year.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd took the decision to ban National Action after an assessment that it was "concerned in terrorism" ahead of the trial of Mrs Cox's killer Thomas Mair.

Last year 22 suspected members or associates of National Action were arrested.